Paris/Cairo, (EFE).- The Saudi oil giant is going to enter with 10% in the joint subsidiary formally created a little over a month ago by the French automobile manufacturer Renault and the Chinese Geely for combustion engines, called Horse.
In a joint statement released on Friday, the three companies explained that under the definitive agreements they have signed, the price that Aramco will have to pay at the closing of the transaction will be based on a valuation of Horse of 7.4 billion euros.
Renault and Geely retain 45% of shares
Renault and Geely will each retain 45% of the shares in the company, which was founded on 31 December and is based in London and employs 19,000 people in 17 production plants and five research and development (R&D) centres.
Renault has provided 10,000 employees in eight engine and transmission production plants in Spain (Valladolid and Seville), Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, as well as three R&D centers in Spain, Romania and Brazil.
“This investment will strengthen Aramco’s contribution to the global energy transition through the development and commercialization of more sustainable mobility solutions,” the three partners stressed.
Combination of “several technologies”
In this regard, they stated that the decarbonization of the automotive sector will need to combine “several technologies”, including “highly efficient thermal engines, transmissions, hybrid engines, alternative fuels such as low-carbon synthetic fuels and hydrogen, as well as the electrification of vehicles.”
In fact, they insisted that Horse’s mission is to “open the way to next-generation technologies with very low emissions.”
Aramco participates with its R&D centers
Aramco is contributing in particular its network of R&D centres, which are working on synthetic fuels, the development of hydrogen as an energy vector and the optimisation of thermal engines.
The agreement also includes collaboration agreements between Aramco and Valvoline on technologies, fuels and lubricants to collectively improve the performance of HORSE Powertrain Limited’s internal combustion engines (ICE).
“Aramco’s investment is expected to directly contribute to the development and deployment of affordable, efficient and lower carbon internal combustion engines globally,” said Aramco Executive Vice President for Technology and Innovation Ahmad O. Al Khowaiter, noting that the aim is to provide solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
“Mitigating carbon in the automotive industry will not be a solo effort”
For his part, the CEO of the Renault Group, Luca de Meo, stated that “mitigating carbon in the automotive industry will not be a solo move”, but rather “requires the best players to join forces to open new paths and come up with innovative solutions” and that is what is done by hosting Aramco in Horse.
Regarding this agreement, Geely Holding CEO Daniel Li noted that “mitigating greenhouse gas emissions will require global synergies, multifaceted technological solutions and knowledge sharing.”
In this regard, Matias Giannini, CEO of HORSE, believes that this partnership will be able to “offer cutting-edge solutions for powertrains with lower emissions.”
Horse’s goal is to manufacture around five million powertrains a year, with a turnover of around 15 billion euros.
